# 2008 Los Angeles Sparks season

The 2008 Los Angeles Sparks season was the 12th season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks returned to the postseason for the first time since 2006.

## Offseason

The following player was selected in the Expansion Draft:
* LaToya Thomas Los Angeles Sparks

### WNBA draft

* On October 23, 2007. The WNBA draft lottery was held. The Los Angeles Sparks received the first pick for the upcoming 2008 WNBA Draft.
| Pick | Player | Nationality | School |
| 1 | Candace Parker | United States | Tennessee |
| 15 | Shannon Bobbitt | United States | Tennessee |
| 29 | Sharnee Zoll | United States | Virginia |

### Transactions

* April 24, The Sparks waived DeTrina White.
* April 23 The Sparks waived Layla Schwarz due to injury.
* April 22, The Sparks traded Taj McWilliams-Franklin and a first-round pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft to the Washington Mystics for DeLisha Milton-Jones.
* April 21 The Sparks signed Tiina Sten to a training camp contract.
* April 17 The Sparks signed Vaida Sipaviciute to a training camp contract.
* April 15 The Sparks signed Lady Comfort to a training camp contract.
* April 2 The Sparks signed Olympia Scott to a training camp contract.
* March 6, The Sparks signed Layla Schwarz, Liron Cohen and Brisa Silva to training camp contracts.
* February 22 The Sparks signed free agent Marie Ferdinand-Harris.
* February 21 The Sparks signed Jessica Moore and Raffaella Masciadri to training camp contracts.

## Preseason

| Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Record |
| May 3 | @ Atlanta | 86-80 | Win | 1-0 |
| May 8 | @ Chicago | 84-68 | Win | 2-0 |
| May 11 | @ Minnesota | 106-105 (2OT) | Win | 3-0 |

## Regular season
### Candace Parker

* Candace Parker scored 34 points, and set a league record for the most points in a WNBA debut. Parker added 12 rebounds to help the Los Angeles Sparks beat the defending champion Phoenix Mercury 99–94 on Saturday 17. Parker, narrowly missed a triple-double with 12 rebounds and eight assists. The previous high in a WNBA debut was 25 points by Cynthia Cooper in 1997.
* On May 29 against the Indiana Fever, Parker tallied the first-ever "5x5" performance in WNBA history, posting 16 points, 16 rebounds, six blocked shots, five assists and five steals. Parker had a career-best 40-point performance on July 9 against the Houston Comets.
* On June 22, Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks finished a breakaway late in a game against the Indiana Fever with a one handed slam. This marked just the second time that a player in the history of the WNBA had a slam dunk.

### Malice at the Palace

* The Sparks–Shock brawl (also known as The Malice at the Palace II) was an altercation that occurred in a game between the Detroit Shock and Los Angeles Sparks on July 22, 2008, at The Palace of Auburn Hills. With 4.2 seconds before the game was officially over, the fighting began on the court after Plenette Pierson made a hard block out after a free throw on Candace Parker. This was the second brawl to occur at the Palace, the other being the Pacers–Pistons brawl.

### Season standings

| Western Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| San Antonio Silver Stars $^x$ | 24 | 10 | .706 | – | 15–2 | 9–8 | 10–10 |
| Seattle Storm $^x$ | 22 | 12 | .647 | 2.0 | 16–1 | 6–11 | 13–7 |
| Los Angeles Sparks $^x$ | 20 | 14 | .588 | 4.0 | 12–5 | 8–9 | 12–8 |
| Sacramento Monarchs $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 6.0 | 5–12 | 13–4 | 9–11 |
| Houston Comets $^o$ | 17 | 17 | .500 | 7.0 | 13–4 | 4–13 | 10–10 |
| Minnesota Lynx $^o$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 8.0 | 10–7 | 6–11 | 8–12 |
| Phoenix Mercury $^o$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 8.0 | 9–8 | 7–10 | 8–12 |

### Season schedule

| Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Record |
| May 17 | @ Phoenix | 99-94 | Win | 1-0 |
| May 25 | @ Atlanta | 74-56 | Win | 2-0 |
| May 29 | @ Indiana | 78-82 (2OT) | Loss | 2-1 |
| May 31 | @ Washington | 70-59 | Win | 3-1 |
| June 3 | @ Chicago | 81-77 (OT) | Win | 4-1 |
| June 6 | vs. Phoenix | 79-85 | Loss | 4-2 |
| June 11 | vs. Detroit | 80-73 | Win | 5-2 |
| June 13 | vs. Connecticut | 98-93 (OT) | Win | 6-2 |
| June 14 | @ Sacramento | 74-66 | Win | 7-2 |
| June 18 | vs. Chicago | 80-67 | Win | 8-2 |
| June 20 | @ San Antonio | 75-77 | Loss | 8-3 |
| June 22 | vs. Indiana | 77-63 | Win | 9-3 |
| June 24 | vs. Seattle | 76-62 | Win | 10-3 |
| June 26 | vs. Washington | 74-77 (OT) | Loss | 10-4 |
| July 1 | vs. New York | 78-89 | Loss | 10-5 |
| July 3 | vs. Minnesota | 70-88 | Loss | 10-6 |
| July 6 | vs. Phoenix | 91-80 | Win | 11-6 |
| July 9 | vs. Houston | 82-74(OT) | Win | 12-6 |
| July 10 | @ Sacramento | 69-87 | Loss | 12-7 |
| July 12 | @ Seattle | 52-70 | Loss | 12-8 |
| July 14 | vs. San Antonio | 75-62 | Win | 13-8 |
| July 17 | @ Phoenix | 92-99 | Loss | 13-9 |
| July 19 | @ Houston | 72-75(OT) | Loss | 13-10 |
| July 22 | @ Detroit | 84-81 | Win | 14-10 |
| July 24 | @ Connecticut | 61-87 | Loss | 14-11 |
| July 25 | @ New York | 68-69 | Loss | 14-12 |
| July 27 | @ Minnesota | 92-84(OT) | Win | 15-12 |
| August 28 | vs. Sacramento | 78-63 | Win | 16-12 |
| August 30 | vs. San Antonio | 58-53 | Win | 17-12 |
| September 1 | vs. Minnesota | 82-58 | Win | 18-12 |
| September 5 | @ San Antonio | 58-76 | Loss | 18-13 |
| September 6 | @ Houston | 84-66 | Win | 19-13 |
| September 11 | vs. Atlanta | 72-83 | Loss | 19-14 |
| September 14 | vs. Seattle | 65-48 | Win | 20-14 |

## Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; MIN= Minutes; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average
| Player | GP | MPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | APG |
| Shannon Bobbitt | | | | | | | |
| Lisa Leslie | 33 | 32.1 | 8.9 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 2.9 | 15.1 |
| Marie Ferdinand-Harris | 33 | 20.6 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 8.4 |
| DeLisha Milton-Jones | 7 | 230 | 50 | 15 | 7 | 5 | |
| Raffaella Masciardi | 5 | 102 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |
| Muriel Page | | | | | | | |
| Candace Parker | 33 | 33.6 | 9.5 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 18.5 |
| Sidney Spencer | 33 | 13.7 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 5.3 |

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Record |
| Western Conference Semi | September 19 | vs. Seattle | 77-69 | Win | 1-0 |
| | September 21 | @ Seattle | 50-64 | Loss | 1-1 |
| | September 23 | @ Seattle | 71-64 | Win | 2-1 |
| Western Conference Final | September 25 | vs. San Antonio | 85-70 | Win | 1-0 (3-1) |
| | September 27 | @ San Antonio | 66-67 | Loss | 1-1 (3-2) |
| | September 28 | @ San Antonio | 72-76 | Loss | 1-2 (3-3) |

## Awards and honors

* Lisa Leslie, All WNBA First Team
* Lisa Leslie, Led WNBA, Blocks (2.9 per game)
* Lisa Leslie, All-WNBA Defensive First Team
* Candace Parker, WNBA Rookie of the Year
* Candace Parker, WNBA MVP
* Candace Parker, Forward, All-WNBA Rookie Team
* Candace Parker, Hanns-G 'Go Beyond' Rookie of the Month award in May (For the month of May, she averaged 19.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists in four games)
* Candace Parker, Hanns-G 'Go Beyond' Rookie of the Month award in July (In the 12 games played in July she averaged 20.8 points, 9.5 rebounds per game and collected eight double-doubles)
* Candace Parker, Led WNBA in double-doubles (17)
* Candace Parker, Led WNBA Rookies, Points per game (18.5)
* Candace Parker, Led WNBA Rookies, Blocks per game (2.3)
* Candace Parker, Led WNBA Rookies, Minutes per game (33.6)
* Candace Parker, Led WNBA, Rebounds per game (9.5)